Finish the Story Contest (week 14)

After missing the last story contest, I made sure to jump back in. Sometimes life throws us lemons, and the best we can do is hold our heads up high, and get through it. If you have never joined these contest, you are missing out on some fun. Be sure to check it out each week, because there may be a story that pulls at your imaginary strings. Now time for me to proceed with my entry.

Into the Woods

The clouds rolled in as Sharon parked in her driveway. She sat there for a few minutes before going inside, pondering the immensely bad day she’d had.
It started off with her being late for work, the first time in nine years. Her boss had been waiting for her reports, and her lateness made him late which made him unhappy. No, unhappy wasn’t the word. Unhinged fit better. She’d left his office feeling assaulted and ashamed at having performed so poorly, even though she had been the top sales manager for five years running. Walking back to her office she thought it all felt a bit off - too intense for being a mere ten minutes late.
But before she could think about it for long, she was hit by a cart full of old desktop computers the IT guy was taking to recycle. The metal cart had ripped her nylons and left her with a bloody gash on her left calf and bruising on her thigh and hip. He hadn’t even apologized but instead glared at her as he picked up the equipment that had fallen to the ground.
The rest of the day continued like that. Everything went wrong from the vending machine taking her money without dispensing her granola bar to the afternoon coffee burning her hand. The harrowing drive home topped it off, and she considered herself lucky to have just lost a fender to a drunk, uninsured motorist.
Finally opening the car door, she glanced up at the sky. The clouds looked thick, but WeatherBug had said the rain would hold off until tomorrow. Not that she cared. She needed to run and shake off the day even if it poured and even if she was bruised and sore.
She changed into her workout clothes and grabbed her headphones before going back outside to the road. Her usual playlist blasting a little louder than usual, she headed north to the trail. It was her usual 10 km route she ran when she needed to think - or de-stress. Her body would move on autopilot while her brain sorted everything out so that by the time she returned home she’d feel normal and relaxed.
The trail into the woods looked a little darker than usual, but she thought it should with the clouds coming in. She didn’t even pause as she went from pavement to forest floor. Another half kilometer and the trees opened up onto a large pond, a swamp really except for the beavers that had built their dams to fill it up. She always slowed a little on this part of the trail to see if she could catch them working. She admired their persistence and ingenuity.
The mound that made their lodge wasn’t too far from the trail, but she had difficulty seeing it. She slowed even more but was unable to focus on it - as if it were twilight when the shapes and shadows blended together. But it wasn’t that late. She looked behind her, and she could see everything just fine.
Stopping, she stared at the beaver lodge and thought she could see a black haze swirling around it. Then she noticed the water. It too was black and seemed to have a dark fog floating just above the surface. Concerned more than worried, she started running again along the trail that continued into the woods. She thought she'd get a better view from the other side of the pond.

.......
She stopped at her resting spot at the half way mark. The boulder gave her a place to sit for a minute and catch her breath. She focused her eyes on the beaver pond, still trying to figure out what was causing the dark haze over it. After training her eyes on one spot, she saw something move. Then she swore she heard her name being called. She wondered who was calling to her. Far as she knew, none of her friends came here.
She slid off the boulder and inched towards the lake. As she approached it, she looked down to see her right foot staying above the water. She whispered towards the shadow, asking who was there. "help me, Sharon. Please!"
Against her better judgement, she took small steps closer to the dam. Just as she felt hairs stand on the back of her neck, she was engulfed in the fog. The beavers started building a dam all around her, as if trying to bury her.

"Oh hell no you don't! I had enough shit go wrong today!"

At that, Sharon turned to run towards the trail. She felt herself go under the water. Being an avid swimmer, she kicked survival mode into high gear. Just as she felt her left leg being pulled down, she reached the edge of the lake. As she climbed out of the water, she ran towards the trail. Turning her head to check for followers, she stopped in her tracks.
The lake was clear, and beavers were swimming around like nothing happened.

"Damn it I need to lay off the sci-fi. That crap is making my imagination go nuts!"

At that, she ran the rest of the way back to her vehicle.